Really depends on the cop. I've talked my way out of a few tickets over the years. It helps to be polite but not obsequious, and to be honest. In general if you can get them to laugh, they'll drive off or reduce the ticket offense to something a lot less. I had a cop write me a ticket for obstructed field of view for going 92mph in a 55mph once... funny thing is, the beat up piece of crap taurus I was driving at the time (my second car) the speedometer only went up to 85mph

I miss Iowa cops, most of them where nice. Ive gotten pulled over 6-8 times their and only one ticket. Here the cops seem like a**holes.

OH YA I GOT A LUCKY BREAK AND ACTUALLY MANAGED TO GET $1000. ILL PROBABLY END UP JUST PAYING THE TICKET AND TAKING A DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE. I DOUBT I WILL GO TO COURT, AND RISK IT. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP GUYS.

Highway state troopers tend to be much bigger @$$holes generally imo...

I remember one time I had to pull over on the shoulder while on the way to camping. My dog threw up... he was still pretty young at the time.

I cleaned everything up. Everything went into a plastic bag... was about to drive off... I see the lights. A cop pulled up.

So he comes up, asks if everything is ok, I tell him what happened, he still wants license/registration/insurance. I gave it to him... he left to his car for a good 10 minutes.

When he came back, he circled around my car, asked me to step out, and started asking me why I threw trash out of my car. (I didn't.)

I told him as much. He didn't believe me, and was gonna write a ticket for littering.

So I told him to watch me as i show him the products from my dog... calmly, slowly got the bag of papertowels and puke, opened it and almost showed it in his face.

Obviously he wasn't happy... just gave me back my documents, said "Fine, fine, get off the shoulder" and went back to his car... and sped off. At that point I did throw the bag deep into the shoulder/woods. Sorry, but if I have to go through the BS... might as well commit the crime

Highway state troopers tend to be much bigger @$$holes generally imo...

I remember one time I had to pull over on the shoulder while on the way to camping. My dog threw up... he was still pretty young at the time.

I cleaned everything up. Everything went into a plastic bag... was about to drive off... I see the lights. A cop pulled up.

So he comes up, asks if everything is ok, I tell him what happened, he still wants license/registration/insurance. I gave it to him... he left to his car for a good 10 minutes.

When he came back, he circled around my car, asked me to step out, and started asking me why I threw trash out of my car. (I didn't.)

I told him as much. He didn't believe me, and was gonna write a ticket for littering.

So I told him to watch me as i show him the products from my dog... calmly, slowly got the bag of papertowels and puke, opened it and almost showed it in his face.

Obviously he wasn't happy... just gave me back my documents, said "Fine, fine, get off the shoulder" and went back to his car... and sped off. At that point I did throw the bag deep into the shoulder/woods. Sorry, but if I have to go through the BS... might as well commit the crime

Yep a lot of them are A**es they love giving people from out of State tickets.

"Does that mean I'm speeding? Most of the time yes it does. Does that mean I'm driving in an unsafe manner. Absolutely not."

That's the logic I would use if I ever went to "court" to fight an offense.
Establish why the laws exist. They are there to impose a level of responsibility and safety for all drivers.
Once you can get that point agreed on then it is much easier to prove that you were not being irresponsible or unsafe in your actions. (Reflex/reaction tests for response times, road conditions, weather, time of day, etc.)
After getting the first part it becomes a matter of making the police prove that you were operating dangerously. A much more difficult task.
It may not get you excused, but it can lessen the penalties.
The question becomes if it is worth it overall.
Here in Canada you are required to attend a court date for your offenses. If you don't attend you are automatically considered guilty of the offense as charged. If you attend and the officer that wrote the ticket doesn't (which frequently happens) the charges are automatically dismissed and you pay nothing. If you both attend then the matter will go before a judge(or now an equivalent level of legal representative) and be settled in short order. That's where you get the chance to "argue" your point. You need to be clear, concise, and meaningful. (Think that you only get 5 minutes to present your point.)

I'm sorry, I havent read this whole thread, but one thing has me really, really excited.

Laser Detector?

Win. Now... where do I get one? And how does it work?

FAIL.

Here's how laser detectors work;

1. Cop sees you speeding.

2. Cop points a laser speed gun at you.

3. Cop measures your speed.

4. Your detector goes BEEP BEEP BEEP.

5. You get a nice lights show in your rear view mirror, get pulled over, and become the proud owner of a speeding ticket.

Modern speed guns, whether they are radar, lidar, laser or anything else do not emit continuously... which means a cop can target only the cars he already knows are speeding. That is unless he is bored out of his mind or a dumb ass and shooting every car that passes by.

In the end radar detectors and laser detectors are nothing more then a technological safety blanket for speeding. Get one if it makes you feel better... I'll spend my money on another laser instead

I'm sorry... what part of my post was a failure? Please explain your lack of tact.
I understand that a laser detector alarms the owner when a laser is detected. If it did not alarm the owner there would be little or no point in owning it.

My question was how does it work, not how is it operated.

I have no intention of buying one for driving purposes. I have, in fact, no intention of buying one. I just think it would be verry cool to make/understand.

Speaking of cops...I had to go to the cop shop today to file for an alarm permit and I pull into their lot and they have a giant sign "NO VISITOR PARKING" with like 8 empty stalls. so I pull out to park on the street, the whole block in every direction is police parking only.
So I find a spot a few blocks away and walk and get my shit done and then I go to leave and a cop has stopped his cop car next to his parked personal car and is blocking the road in both directions... So I end up turning around and I am going to turn onto the street and I can't see oncoming traffic because one of the cops parked their car in line with the edge of the curb where you're not legally allowed to park... Fuck the police -.-

__________________
"Prevent the laser lighting from strong vibration or punch"

Yeah, I've seen my share of cops breaking the laws for their own purposes. It eventually catches up with them.

And I wasn't only directing my questions to you Haloid as others have stated that they also speed. Rather, I was placing the questions out there for everyone to consider. How much time savings is worth an innocent life ?
I use the same sorts of observations and knowledge of the areas involved to dictate if I will meet or exceed posted speeds as well, like you, but not in the school or playground zones.
I have always been aware that the world is far bigger than children can ever know and they don't always remember that there are others out there that can hurt them, even if unintentionally. Sometimes all it takes is wanting to share a new song they learned on the week-end or a neat thing they just saw or they have gym class that day and they really like gym class and suddenly they are in the roadway...
Nope !
Not worth the risk.
I will always be happy to be late and say "I didn't hurt anybody on my way here today."
And I have been driving with that in mind for 25+ years now.

But enough of my preaching...geez. It's like I have nothing better to do today here at work.

Well said, thank you.

I never realized how much it bothered me that people speed through school zones until I had kids. I drive truck for a living up here and our school zones across AB are 8-9:30am, 11:30am-1:30pm, and 3-4:30pm....playground zones are 30km/hr 24/7. There are way too many people in a rush to get somewhere these days.

I'm sorry, I havent read this whole thread, but one thing has me really, really excited.

Laser Detector?

Win. Now... where do I get one? And how does it work?

Quote:

Originally Posted by InfinitusEquitas

FAIL.

Here's how laser detectors work;

1. Cop sees you speeding.

2. Cop points a laser speed gun at you.

3. Cop measures your speed.

4. Your detector goes BEEP BEEP BEEP.

5. You get a nice lights show in your rear view mirror, get pulled over, and become the proud owner of a speeding ticket.

Modern speed guns, whether they are radar, lidar, laser or anything else do not emit continuously... which means a cop can target only the cars he already knows are speeding. That is unless he is bored out of his mind or a dumb ass and shooting every car that passes by.

In the end radar detectors and laser detectors are nothing more then a technological safety blanket for speeding. Get one if it makes you feel better... I'll spend my money on another laser instead

Not entirely true. First of all Laser and Radar are completely diffrent. Ive been saved by Radar lots of times, usually cops pick a spot and just leave it on to check every single cars speed or they turn it off and on, but I still get a warning that keeps going off and on in advanced. The radar stretches out far in every direction. So it is very likely that your detector will give you enough time to respond. All of us should be aware of laser, Laser guns are one beam. Unless you are lucky to get a advanced warning because you get hit with a stray shot (very rare) or the cop doesn't look at the gun right away (rare) you wont have time to slow down. When I get hit with Laser, I think of it as a "Your Fu**ed Alarm" :P

So basically a good radar detector will save you from a speeding ticket from a radar gun unless you are unlucky. But Laser, usually not. Heres a picture to demonstrate laser and radar guns.

Radar:

Laser:

As you can see with Laser, You are more likely to get a advanced alert if the officer decides to target a farther vehicle and part of the unfocused beam hits you. This has only happened to me once.

And this might make a difference, New Jersey is known to have the most advanced Radar/ Laser technology. Most other states still use guns that emit continuously except for laser.

Unless you are lucky to get a advanced warning because you get hit with a stray shot (very rare) or the cop doesn't look at the gun right away (rare) you wont have time to slow down. When I get hit with Laser, I think of it as a "Your Fu**ed Alarm" :P

Ok, so we're in agreement... laser detectors... basically useless

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haloid95

So basically a good radar detector will save you from a speeding ticket from a radar gun unless you are unlucky. But Laser, usually not. Heres a picture to demonstrate laser and radar guns.

And this might make a difference, New Jersey is known to have the most advanced Radar/ Laser technology. Most other states still use guns that emit continuously except for laser.

Well, I can't say that NJ has the most advanced technology... although it wouldn't surprise me in the least considering that NJ has some of the best funded police departments around.

Bottom line is in ALL cops that I've come across, use guns where they actually target cars specifically. The old school detectors that are just left on... only place I see them is in signs.

Which brings me to another issue which may be more area specific. Radar detectors around here give off false alerts like crazy. I have friends who still use them... when they get to north jersey they just turn them off... witht he false alerts you may as well assume there is a cop around every turn and bend.

So while I can't speak for the middle of bumble f*ck nowhere in the heartland (no offense intended, I love to visit, I'd hate to stay) I can tell you from ten years of driving that radar detectors around where I live are useless.